FBR Opposes Health Ministry’s Request for Tax Exemptions on Import of Syringes

The Federal Board of Revenue opposed the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination’s proposal for granting a tax exemption on the import of auto-disable syringes. Sources told ProPakistani that the tax department opposed the ministry’s proposal and had instead proposed to curtail the withholding exemptions from 31 December 2021 to 30 June 2022. The Ministry of Health had asked the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to approve the exemption from taxes and duties on the import of auto-disable syringes and their raw materials and finished products for local manufacturing. The ECC will hold a meeting today that will be chaired by the Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin. Sources said that the Ministry of Health is lobbying for tax exemptions on syringes with and without needles, tubular metal needles, rubber gaskets, printing paper, polypropylene, propylene copolymers, plasticized, episode resins, and biaxially oriented polypropylene. It also asked the ECC to allow tax exemptions on printing paper, polypropylene, propylene copolymers, plasticized, episode resins, and biaxially oriented polypropylene if the registered manufacturers of auto-disable syringes are importing with a quota determination by the Input-Output Co-efficient Organization (IOCO) and are subject to a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the ministry. The ECC had issued a directive in March stating that it will not charge sales tax and customs duty on importers. Sources said that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs has also requested the ECC to grant exemptions to 19 subsidiary companies of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) from the requirements of the sub-rule (3) of rule 24 of public sector companies (corporate governance rules), as advised by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Finance Division. The SECP has granted an exemption twice for a period of three years each from 2014 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2019 as it was the competent authority at the time. However, the federal government is now the competent authority that is authorized to grant exemptions after changes made in the PSCCG 2013 via SRO 715(1)2015 dated 1 July 2019.